Wedding Anniversary Emilie Tavernier and Jean-Baptiste Gamelin – June 4, 1823
In her letters written between the ages of twenty and twenty-two, we note that Emilie Tavernier mentioned some suitors who seemed serious and also, on two occasions, she had announced her intention to become a sister. She was at the age when the choice of a state of life is seriously considered and she herself affirmed that it was necessary to think before committing oneself. Later, the signs of her calling to the vocation of marriage became clearer.
At twenty-three years of age, she attracted the attention of an excellent unmarried man, twenty-seven years her senior: Mr. Jean-Baptiste Gamelin. The disparity in their ages did not seem to create any difficulty and Bishop Bourget said of this union: “As she was noted especially for her love for the poor, Mr. Gamelin, who lived only for the poor, wanted to associate her with him through marriage, with the thought that she would be the heir to his charity as well as his property.1
This mention of charity towards the poor and orphans is confirmed by a will of Mr. Gamelin himself on July 4, 1820. All his goods went to the poor, sometimes through the baker for the distribution of bread, sometimes through the shoemaker to provide shoes for the poor, sometimes through the parish priest for assistance for needy people.
“Charitable hearts recognize and unite themselves and there was convincing proof of this in the marriage of Emilie and Jean-Baptiste and in the fruits of charity which their marriage produced.”2
Emilie and Jean-Baptiste entered into their legal marriage contract on the afternoon of June 4, 1823, and celebrated their sacramental marriage on the same day. This date of June 4 for the legal contract and the religious act is in keeping with the tradition that the Gamelin-Tavernier marriage took place in the evening, no doubt to avoid the curiosity of those who had witnessed Mr. Gamelin’s first two setbacks when he had almost completed the sacramental “yes” with another woman.
However, it is difficult to determine the exact time of their marriage. The language of the contract is quite explicit: “the fourth day of June in the afternoon”. It is possible that the marriage received the sacramental blessing between the time of the legal contract and sunset on that day.
We recall that, in this time, Mass was not celebrated in the evening. So, Emilie and Jean-Baptiste exchanged their marriage vows before Mr. Bréguier, called Saint-Pierre, a Sulpician, who blessed their union and who was to be, in Emilie’s own testimony, her spiritual director throughout her life.3
The author of the History of the Congregation tells of contemporaries of the Tavernier-Gamelin couple, that Mr. Jean-Baptiste Gamelin “… openly expressed his admiration for his young wife. “He even said that he “thanked God for having taken away his words at the moment when he was about to unite his destiny with that of another woman. » 4
On this June 4, 2020, we think of all the couples around the world who, during these months of confinement, have given of their time and strength to help, care for and comfort the sick and their families, and who have made themselves “providential” in many ways, following the example of the Gamelin-Tavernier couple.
Let us also keep in mind all the couples who had planned to marry in this year 2020 and who have had to postpone this happy event. Let us pray for them and with them, asking new blessings on their plans and life journey together.
Let us not forget that in life, everything contributes to the good of the one who loves God!
Sister Yvette Demers, SP
Vice postulator of the Cause of Emilie Gamelin